Friday, April 30, 2010

How do you sum up 220 days in a single post? you don't really, I guess. but I'll try.

Snow has fallen here five of the past seven days. I hiked up Aspen Highlands on the first of May and found the snow at Cloud 9 to be even better than it was in February. I shared the deck with one other skier that had hiked the 3,000 feet up to get a few last turns before spring and summer come in with a vengeance and take this wonderful season away from us.

May 1st marked my 103rd day of skiing for the winter. telemarking that is. I worked three jobs - two on the mountain and one in the town of Aspen. I bussed tables at the latter and waited tables on the mountain. DeNiro recognized me from one restaurant to the next. One of my several bosses did not. I landed my first 360 (I've been trying for nearly 20 years). In four and a half months I left Aspen only once whence I drove four hours to Crested Butte for the Elk Mountain Grand Traverse, a 40 mile ski race from there to Aspen (the race was turned around due to foul weather conditions and we had to drive the same four hours back to aspen, unfortunately). I raced four uphill races in my newest invention - the Ajax Ascenders. On March 13th I put the Ajax Ascenders to the ultimate test with America's Uphill (video from 2008).

Though I won the race (40:28) and set a new record for the course (previous record was 41:01) my time, unfortunately, comes with an *asterisk*. 1. Carpenter's 1999 record was set in snowshoes which was a requirement for the race at the time. 2. There was a time dispute: a couple racers that timed themselves reported a different time than the "official" chip time. Some slower, some faster. My refusal to use a watch in both training and racing was once again put in check (the other time - when I nearly missed the one hour cut off for Mt. Washington by two seconds because i was unaware of the time). Realistically, I'd like to run the course in under 40minutes. It is Aspen's 4minute mile.

Between working and skiing I managed to squeeze in plenty of short, fast runs - 40-50 miles/week if I were to guess on a figure. I chased elk and they chased me back. I discovered the beautiy of running by moon and star light (why'd it take me this long!?). I tried to skin up to Cloud 9 Bistro most days that I was working there (8,000 to 11,000 feet). This restraunt was the highlight of my winter. It was the waiting job that I've wanted for years - fun people, good food, beautiful view and a party everyday at 3pm.

2 comments:

Nice to read this Ricky. I have been wondering about you.. nice to hear you are out and about. And even better to hear you are doing it without heels (tele-skiing to those not in the know).Have a great summer.. Mackey

I started running when I was in middle school. In high school I joined the cross-country team after a friend informed me that it was co-ed (the soccor team was not). My college running career was essentially non-existent as I was never able to run a time that would seccure a spot for me on to the CU running team. Things changed following a third missed attempt. I abandoned the type A approach to training that had been injuring me and leading me nowhere for a type B, run-as-you-feel philosophy. I won my first notable race a few months later at the age of 25.
For the past two years my running has taken me from the Rockies to the Appalacians, from the Empire State Building to the Fjords of Norway, from deep valley floors to high mountain tops.